Wigwams owner and CEO, Bob Chesebro recently made a visit to Washington for the NCTO (National Council of Textile
Organizations) annual meeting and to lobby against the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).

In a statement, Chesebro said this trade agreement involves the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan,
Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Chile, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei
Darussalam, and Vietnam. The issue at hand is that Vietnam is insisting
on a new rule of origin (single transformation) in the Trans Pacific
Partnership  negotiations that would allow it to source  textiles from
China and export  finished  apparel  to the United States duty free, according to Wigman.

According to an independent study, such an outcome would devastate the
Western Hemisphere textile and apparel sector, causing the loss of 1.6
million jobs. The TPP negotiations are entering their critical final
year with textiles being cited by the former, USTR Ambassador Kirk as
among the three most difficult negotiating areas of the TPP.

According to Wigman’s statement, Vietnam
will triple its exports of apparel to $22 billion to the United States
if the new single transformation rule is passed. Vietnam is already
the second largest apparel exporter to the U.S. with exports of $7
billion a year. According to an independent study by the ORourke Group,
if Vietnam is successful, almost every textile company in the U.S.
would suffer significant production and job losses. That is because
Vietnam is targeting the same categories for growth that our industry
depends on for its basic business.

Western Hemisphere apparel market
share would fall from 17.8 percent to 10 percent in eight years, and
1.4 billion square meters in apparel production would be lost.
Additional losses would continue over time. In addition, U.S. textile
exports would decline by nearly $4 billion and 165,000 U.S. textile
related jobs would be lost.

So how does this effect Wigwam?

Our
concern is Vietnam. It wants to eliminate the Yarn Forward Rule in favor
of weaker rules that would open up a backdoor for Chinese textile
products. If Vietnam achieves its goal, then state-owned textile
companies in China and Vietnam will prosper and many U.S. textile
companies, will go out of business for good, says Chesebro.

The National Council of Textile Organizations
(NCTO)  an  is conducting a vigorous  TPP Advocacy Campaign that will
activate and expand the textile base and increase pressure from Congress
to maintain strong textile rules in the TPP.  NCTO, representing the
U.S. Textile Industry and its Western Hemisphere partners oppose any
changes to existing Fair Trade Agreement rules that would weaken the
yarn-forward rule of origin.

Wigwam has been manufacturing
performance socks in the United States for 108 years. Along with other
domestic fiber manufacturers, yarn manufacturers, fabric manufacturer
and Western Hemisphere companies Wigwam is committed to keeping the yarn
forward rule that has been the cornerstone of all previous FTAs in the
textile industry. Wigwams independent rep force, made up of over 80
people, are personally reaching out to their Senators, and Congress men
and women in order to help the NCTO in its advocacy campaign as well as
get through to Washington on how this new rule could potentially damage
the future of Wigwam and all individuals that have represented the
brand. 

Chesebro will be traveling to Lima, Peru for the 17th round of
negotiating sessions on the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) with a
delegation from NCTO and some key industry members. The negotiations
start on May 15th. While there, the group will meet with member
delegations from the other participating countries and with members of
the U.S. negotiating team.

We have created a business model that
allows us to manufacture our socks here in the United States and have
been successful in doing so for the last 108 years. We will fight to
keep it that way, said Bob Chesebro.